On the second day of first round action in the MPM St Louis Open, fifth seed Mohammed Abbas battled for 64 minutes to become the fourth Egyptian through to the quarter-finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in the US state of Missouri.
The 25-year-old world No18 from Cairo beat unseeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 and will now face Ong Beng Hee for a place in the last four.
The third seed from Malaysia was also tested for more than an hour before achieving his predicted quarter-final berth. Beng Hee fought back from a game down to overcome Canadian Shahier Razik 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 in 66 minutes.
The eagerly-awaited 'local' match featuring the US-based No2 seed John White proved to be a disappointing affair. The hard-hitting Scot, now based in Philadelphia, survived a tough first game, then eased to two-game advantage against Mark Heather. However, the English qualifier was forced to concede the match when he retired sick.
White's 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 victory takes him on to a quarter-final clash with Egypt's No7 seed Wael El Hindi.
1st round:
[5] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 (64m)
[3] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 (66m)
[2] John White (SCO) bt [Q] Mark Heather (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 ret. (19m)